Eurolinguistic Association 
(ELA)
Cooperation Agreement (Statutes)

These Statutes were adopted by representatives of ELA member organizations in Lille, France, at the 8th International Eurolinguistic Symposium on 22 October 2007. French and German versions will appear in due course.

Article 1: Name of organization
This non-profit organization is named “Eurolingistic Association”, abbreviated as ELA.

Article 2: Seat
The Board of Directors shall determine the official address of ELA and its seat. The present seat is in Mannheim, Germany. ELA will not be registered; the Board of Directors may, however, decide for registration if necessary.

Article 3: Aims
(1) ELA is a network of regional organizations active in the field of Eurolinguistics. The founding associations are 
	– Eurolinguistischer Arbeitskreis Mannheim e.V. (ELAMA), Mannheim (Germany) 
	    (= “Eurolinguistics Centre“);
	– Associazione Eurolinguistica-Sud, Rome (Italy) (= “Eurolinguistics South“);
	– Eurolinguistic Network South-East (ENSE), Zagreb (Croatia) 
	    (= “Eurolingistics South-East“).
ELA is open for membership of other regional Eurolinguistic associations, and welcomes the foundation of such organizations, in whatever form (“Eurolinguistics North, West, East“), i.e. they may also have the loose structure of a network, and be founded upon initiative of the ELA Board of Directors.
(2) The aims of ELA are the advancement, representation, and co-ordination of Eurolinguistics on an international level and in an interdisciplinary context, and the promotion of its International Symposia at reasonable intervals.
(3) ELA specifically undertakes to adhere to The Pushkin Theses (as attached to these statutes), the object of which is primarily to promote:
– the study of multilingualism as a subject of research and as a factor of glottogenesis  both synchronically and diachronically;
– the study of contacts between languages and linguistic properties common to European languages which reflect such contacts: language typology  both in  a synchronic and diachronic perspective;
– the study of  European lesser-used languages in contact or conflict with major  European or non-European languages;
– the study of European languages in a global context: Global Eurolinguistics;
– the promotion of multilingual programmes for language learning and teaching.

Article 4: Membership
Personal membership is indirect and possible only via membership in a regional member organization; membership of the network shall comprise all those who have paid the annual membership fee to a regional member organization. Membership ends with the termination of such regional membership.  

Article 5: Means
The network will not collect individual membership fees. The costs of the network’s activities that cannot be covered by conference fees, subscriptions to publications, or sponsoring will be divided among the constituting organizations according to their number of personal and institutional members. 

Article 6: Structure
(1) The administrative structure of the organization is as follows: 
	a) Board of Directors,
	b) Executive Committee.
(2) The Board of Directors may create internal subcommittees to serve in an advisory capacity. 
(3) The Board of Directors will also appoint an Editor-in-Chief and an Editorial Board to oversee scholarly publications. The Editorial Board consists of at least five persons; it is responsible for all scholarly publications of ELA.

Article 7: Board of Directors
(1) The Board of Directors consists of twelve delegates of the member organizations of ELA; they are appointed by the governing bodies of these member organizations. They should represent as far as possible the regional Eurolinguistic fields of studies. 
(2) The Board of Directors discusses and directs the general policy of ELA according to the aims described in article 3. The Board of Directors elects the officers of the Executive Committee (as described in article 8). Moreover it possesses the following specific powers: 
	a) to approve the Executive Committee’s reports of activities; 
	b) to modify and approve the statutes of the organization; 
	c) to dissolve the organization.
(3) The Board of Directors is convened at intervals of at most three years. Notification may be in any form. Meetings will normally coincide with the International Symposia promoted by ELA and organised by a member organization. They will be convened and presided over by the President or, in his or her absence, by one of the Vice Presidents of ELA. The Board of Directors has the widest powers of administration and management, insofar as these are not reserved for other bodies of the organization by these statutes. All decisions taken by the Board of Directors require a simple majority of the personal voters (present and proxy). Proxy votes are permitted.
(4) On the request of half the members plus one, the President shall convene an extraordinary meeting of the Board of Directors, with a limited agenda.

Article 8: Executive Committee
(1) The organization is administered by an Executive Committee. The Executive Committee consists of the President, two Vice-Presidents, and the Secretary, all of whom – except the Secretary – are elected by the Board of Directors among its members. The Secretary is elected upon nomination by the President; he must be a member of one of the constituting organizations. In the case of the loss of members through death, illness, continuous unavailability or resignation, the Board of Directors may appoint substitutes, who must be members of an ELA organization. 
(2) The Executive Committee is responsible for day to day management of the network and for the preparation and implementation of the decisions taken by the Board of Directors. The Executive Committee is responsible for the election procedures of a new Board of Directors after their election period has expired. Annual reports of the activities of the Board shall be provided via the Eurolinguistic Newsletter.

Article 9: Majorities
(1) Without prejudice to the following paragraph, all decisions taken by any body of the organization require a simple majority of the personal voters (present and proxy), the person chairing the body in question having a casting vote. 
(2) Decisions with respect to changes in the statutes and the dissolution of the network mentioned in article 11 require a majority of two thirds of the personal voters (present and proxy) at the Board of Directors.

Article 10: Duration of office
The terms of office in any body or committee of the network is three years. All persons elected by the Board of Directors may be re-elected, but no-one may be elected to office for more than three successive terms.
 
Article 11: Dissolution of the organization
In the event of dissolution of the organization, the Board of Directors will decide on the disposal of the assets of the organization. The decision requires a majority of two thirds of the personal voters (present and proxy), through secret ballot.

Lille, 22 October 2007

These statutes have been adopted by the following representatives of the founding organizations: